TENNESSEE PROPOSES STUDENT BEHAVIOR TRACKING SYSTEM TO PREVENT SCHOOL VIOLENCE
A proposed Tennessee bill, Senate Bill 1487 titled the “Early Behavioral Intervention and Reporting Act,” aims to enhance school safety by requiring public schools and charter schools to implement a computer-based system for tracking and reporting “early warning signs” of student behavioral, health, and safety issues.
These signs include harassment, bullying, cyberbullying, threats of violence, substance abuse, mental health concerns, self-harm, and suicidal ideation. Teachers and staff would be trained to identify and input such indicators into the system, which would immediately notify the school’s threat assessment team for review and potential intervention. Schools must maintain anonymized digital records and submit annual aggregated reports to the Tennessee Department of Education, detailing the number of incidents, entries by role, students with multiple signs, and general descriptions of issues and responses—without identifying information to comply with privacy laws like FERPA.
Non-compliant schools risk withholding of state funds by the education commissioner. The bill, motivated in part by concerns over missed opportunities to address behaviors exhibited by Antioch High School student Solomon Henderson prior to a tragic 2025 incident where he killed a classmate and himself, is supported by educators who highlight student behavior as a leading cause of teacher attrition.
Similar systems exist in states like Florida, while nationally, the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System tracks related youth risks, though some data access was temporarily affected earlier in 2025 amid federal policy changes before being restored with disclaimers. If enacted, the law would take effect July 1, 2026, with exemptions for schools already using pre-existing comparable systems.
